I may be an expatriate St. Louisan, but I'm a Cardinal Fan Forever. Mostly, I write haiku recaps of every game. Occasionally, I write longer stuff with pictures.

Home Run Derby

Sorry for the long delay in finishing my All Star Week report. Life has just been way too busy, but luckily it seems to be slowing down to allow for a relaxing end of summer. I think I still remember most of the good stuff.

Monday night was the Home Run Derby. I got down there early to be there for some batting practice. It was exciting to see all the big names. David Cook kicked off the festivities with a couple songs and a fair amount of pyro. I like that attention was paid to Missouri celebs throughout the all star festivities. Nikko Smith, Ozzie’s son and an American Idol finalist, sang the National Anthem.

I was primed for the excitement and wondering if I might actually catch a ball, since I was seated in the left field bleachers. It didn’t take long for a ball to come near me. The first gold ball home run was caught by a guy in the row just in front of me. He gave it to his son, who was beaming. It was really exciting. Apparently I was visible on ESPN – trying to get out of the way. Yeah, without a glove and being female, I didn’t stand much of a chance in the ball-grabbing frenzy.

Home town fans were cheering loud for Albert Pujols, and he made the finals, but didn’t seem to have his best stuff that night. Prince Fielder really put on a clinic, even launching one into the upper deck. It was a thrill to watch. Poor Brandon Inge got no homers and I felt bad for him, but that just serves to remind us how difficult this is. The rest of the players put on an awesome display of power and it was totally worth the money to be at this event.

Afterwards, I walked around a bit and admired some of the great fan outfits. I was just counting the moments til tomorrow’s game!

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